America's 10 Most Stressful Cities

Forbes magazine has put together a list of America’s most stressful cities and as a product of Chicago, the winner of the dubious distinction of being America’s most stressful city, I have this to say: “Yeah, so? Shut up and let me eat my hot dog in peace for once, goddamn it. No, I’m not yelling. Why are you always saying that I’m yelling? It’s not like you never yell! Pass the sport peppers before this gets ugly.”

Without further ado…

America’s Most Stressful Cities:

10. Philadelphia, PA

9. Providence, R.I.

8. Salt Lake City, Utah

7. Cleveland, Ohio

6. San Diego, Calif.

5. San Francisco, Calif.

4. Los Angeles, Calif.

3. Detroit, Mich.

2. New York, N.Y.

1. Chicago, Ill.

The magazine considered unemployment rate, expensive gas, high population density and relatively poor air quality as its criteria for what made one city more stressful than another.

Chicago has a 7.3% unemployment rate, the eighth most polluted air in our ranking and in city where everybody drives to get around, a gallon of gas costs a nickel under $4 dollars.

Three California cities are also on the list, although I have no idea what, if anything, that means.

I have a book on “The Best Places To Live” because I’m a demographics/atlas nerd, and it ranks about 400 metro areas in stress factor. I believe my town got a pretty high stress rating because of poor healthcare, poor education and a declining industrial economy. And allergies and weather from hell. It’s not a big town either, so there’s no big-city amenities to offset things.

@Froggmann: Me included, I’ve lived here for 6 years, but I finally know someone that will be living in another major city (Seattle wasn’t first choice but hey) so I’ll have some support if/when I move there.

@B: Here’s what we have to be stressed out about:1.) Some of the worst public transportation ever.2.) The city has been so mismanaged, that it is now close to broke. Because of that, city services like filling potholes are few and far between.3.) The cost of housing makes the dream of owning a home, just that, a dream.

The positive is, if you become homeless there is usually only a week out of the year you need to go into a temporary shelter to avoid freezing to death. Yea sunny weather!

@B: seriously! SD is one of the chillest places to live. I mean, ANY place is gonna suck if you’re poor, but even the homeless are happier in SD due to incredible weather as well as incredible nature. Oh, don’t forget the incredible ladiez!!!

It seems to me that the best way to determine the country’s most stressful cities would be to, ummm, poll a random sample from each city about their stress level. But what do I know? Maybe air quality and unemployment are good proxies.

Still, that would make Morocco much more stressful than the US, which is opposite my impression from living there. Maybe they should factor in the availability of marijuana.

In other polls Chicago is also the unhealthiest eating, most number of bars/beer consumption and I think most ardent professional sports fans. These are off the top of my head from dimbulb morning news anchors.

BUT add those in and by being drunk, eating glutinous food and watching sports I’m totally not stressing.

As a non-native Chicagoan I find it a very non-stressful city as big cities go. People are friendly which I think is a big attraction to folks like me when they relocate.

And besides the Junk food there is a booming restaurant scene here. I dare any city to match it right now.

@Rabbi Dave: I love Chicago. More bars and restaurants per square foot? Bring it on! Chicago is at the top of the list of places I’d like to live. Stressful? Maybe, but having put up with Anchorage and Albany winters, and Seattle and New Jersey traffic, how bad can it really be? Sure, the CTA is held together with baling wire and duct tape, but at least they have public transit–no such luxury here in the Southeast, where the buses simply exist to block traffic and soak up excess diesel fuel.

This story is just another reason why journalists should leave the social science modeling and data gathering to professionals. We’re professionals, kids–don’t try this at home, or in Forbes.

This is, as most people know, a meaningless poll. However, they are tons of ommitted variables that they should have considered like, “Average Work Week”, “Ratio of Single Parent/Multi-Parent Households”, “Divorce Rates”, Crime, and a Restructured Munical GDP.

@Nigromancer: Average commuting time. Number of rainy days. Violent and property crime rates. The ratio of average income to average expenses. The average savings/debt. The ratio of park space to size of the city or population.

Forbes does some interesting lists that are sometimes well thought out. This was not one of those lists.

Yeah really. I’ve lived in Chicago, and its way less stressful than post-Katrina New Orleans (aka America’s 3rd World). Even before the storm, there was really no point in living in New Orleans if you had anything higher than a high school diploma. Economy sucks, education sucks, transit sucks, infrastructure sucks, politicians suck, etc. Nothing gets done. A crater on a major street just gets dirt dumped into it. No jobs outside of hospitality. Horrible weather.

At least the food is good.

Sure Chitown has nearly 4/gallon gas, but when I lived there I just took the train/bus everywhere. And FWIW, I can find a decent place in Chicago for less than I can find a decent place in NOLA AND I won’t have to worry about getting mugged and murdered or have the place looted and ransacked. Plus no hurricanes. I’ll take a snowstorm over hauling ass and depleting my “oh shit” fund any day.

Love visiting Chicago on business. Loved the people. Loved the food. O’Hare was one of the most efficient airports I’ve ever experienced up to three times a month for the two years that I used it on business trips. I’m just not buying Forbes’ conclusion.

I’m 4th generation born and raised in California. Three California cities made the list! That I can buy. I’ve got some other cities in California that ought to get “honorable mention.” San Diego seems odd to me though.

I live in SLC and I’m not stressed, what is there to be stressed about?? The lowest average age group, largest families per capita, one of the highest gas prices in the country, large population of illegals, oppression of liquor laws, lake effect…..yeah I’m not stressed.

Wasn’t Chitown just ranked the 11th best city to live in? I guess not being in the top ten has really stressed us out! And how the heck is Detroit only 3rd, they need to be numero uno, dammit! I would much rather live in Chicago than Dtown.

@JosephFinn: Yeah, most of my friends here *don’t* drive. I sold my car over two years ago after 3 years of not driving it. Also, since gas prices have gone up even more people rely on the CTA. I think LA is probably the city where everyone drives to get around.

@JosephFinn: Seconding this. Everybody takes the El or the Metra unless they’re delivery drivers, have reserved free parking spaces at work, or are just dumb. I definitely wouldn’t live here if the public transportation weren’t adequate. List fails it.

Now, about the CTA itself causing stress with spontaneous reroutings, delayed service and a large percentage of employees who just don’t give a damn, that’s another matter entirely.

@MyPetFly: Lousy traffic only if you are going in the same direction as rush hour. If you’re going the opposite direction, like 15 north in the morning, and south in the evening, you’re fine, unlike LA, where it’s jammed in both directions at rush hour.

I’ve lived in NYC, Detroit (and I mean Detroit proper, as in, the view from my apartment was surrounding projects and arsoned lots), and LA. NYC is so much more stressful than either of the other two that I don’t even know how they can be on the same list. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather be stuck in traffic than jammed into a subway car with my nose stuck in someone’s armpit and some random person groping my ass because it’s so crowded I can’t turn around to confront them. Seriously. Give me a random LA traffic jam any day.

I strongly dislike living in NYC. It’s a fun place to visit, but living here (3.5 years now) has begun to wear on me and my mental health. It’s sort of like if almost every day of your life is an overcrowded party. It’s fun for awhile, but sometimes you just want to kick back and watch a little TV and not be around so many damn people all the time. And forget about privacy – you can’t value your privacy and stay sane here.

Yes, moving here less than a year after spending several months in rural Wyoming may have been a bit too big of a shock to the system…(by the way, I’d go back to rural Wyoming in a second, tweekers and oilmen be damned.)

@nicemarmot617: Hm, I’ve lived in NYC and now live in LA. I thought that too about the subway, but enduring a 2 hour commute in first gear the entire time I long for the subway.
Driving in NYC sucks, but driving in LA sucks more.
I think both cities have a lock on being stressful though. NYC is stressful just because of the sheer number of PEOPLE in your way, in your face, in line, everywhere all the time.
LA is stressful due to the shitty transportation infrastructure and LACK of personal relationships.
I put them at a tie…
In NYC you can go out and party with your friends all night to relieve stress.
In LA, I can relax at the rooftop pool in the sunshine all day.
My goal is to be bicoastal, enjoying the good of each and hopefully mitigating the bad.

@veronykah: My personal circumstances in LA meant I didn’t have much of a problem with the freeways because I could get to most of the places I needed to go without leaving surface streets. It was significantly slower than an uncrowded freeway, but low stress and faster than rush hour freeways. I am also sort of a loner, so the disconnect you feel in LA doesn’t really bother me. Being around tons of strangers constantly does.

In other words, I should move back to LA! I liked it there. Ah, if only.

@nicemarmot617: I move TO Wyoming (not rural) from NYC and after a minor “OMG there is nothing to do?!” freakout I adjusted, took a hike and am never. ever. setting foot in NYC again unless it’s to visit. Short term.

On a different note, one of my best girlfriends recently moved to NYC
straight out of college from the University of Michigan. When I checked
in with her, she (very nonchalantly) said she is seeing a shrink now. I
asked her what was wrong and she informed me that everyone in NYC sees a
shrink because “living there is very stressful.” Which begs the
question, why would anyone do it?

Atlanta didn’t make it into the top ten? I’m shocked! I used to live there and can vouch that its traffic, people, government and general atmosphere made every aspect of daily life far more difficult that it needed to be.

I’ve lived in both NY and Chicago and it’s a toss-up. In NY paying the rent alone should put it at the top of the stressful cities, but Chicago’s shitty weather is also a big factor. I know a lot Chicagoans who get very stressed coming the end of august.

I never stressed much for the 8 years I was in Chicago. Its a fun town. Tons of taxis. There’s always affordable housing to buy or rent. Its not very snobby (usually). Plenty of work if you are in the financial industry.

I can see why SF is listed as a stressful city. When it comes to gas prices, they’re ahead of the curve. Also, it’s not too pedestrian friendly. It was once considered the most dangerous city because of the number of fatal accidents for pedestrians and cyclists. Add that to the parking scarcity, the filthy buses with its rude drivers, the nation’s highest gas prices, skyrocketing rates with a crime rate to match and the lack of space, I’m surprised it wasn’t higher on the list.

According to their TV commercials, belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints means you will have wonderful, happy families and communities, and a loving God that takes all your worries away. What could be so stressful? Did the TV commercials lie? I’ve never heard of a TV commercial lying before…

@Julia789: Last time I was in SLC, 20 years ago for a school trip, I recall there was not much to do after about 8PM. Think about it, Mormons, not much drinking, dancing, etc. To me that stressful. Plus it’s cold in the winter. On the other hand, usually these surveys include the surrounding suburbs, Park City is a pretty happening party place. The ski bums there don’t seem that stressed out to me…

@BillsBurg: Much has changed in 20 years, I was being a little sarcastic when I listed all of those things. You can’t get in to a dept store without some rich soccer mom toting 5 kids around in her Escalade that takes up 4 parking spots. The booze is watered down, the liquor store closes at ten, that’s right liquor store, you can’t even buy it at the grocery store. The mormons sorta keep the crime rates down and we honestly don’t have a ghetto, just rednecks. Employment is up and so is home ownership so I’m thinking the only reason we made the list is pollution, drug use, and the high rate of depression/suicide. Go figure.

Even though Chicago gas is around $4 a gallon, as a previous Consumerist post pointed out, when you factor in wages Chicago actually has nearly the lowest “fuel cost as a percentage of income” in the country.

I was however surprised to see that Chicago has such a high unemployment rate. I guess I’m sheltered.

I have lived in both Chicago and Nashville and I would choose Chicago in a
heartbeat. I cannot tell you how many times we had stuff stolen in Nashville.
My husband and I each had checks stolen and cashed. A thief who had done some
work for us tried to make off with my husband’s scooter, and he knew my
husband’s condition and that he needed the scooter to get around. When we were
moving into our house, the door was kicked in about 9 p.m. and it was 2 in the
morning before the police got there. The last time I was there, when I was
getting ready to sell the place, the door was again kicked open and I had to pay
for a motel room rather than stay in the house I owned.

When I was in an accident in 90-degree heat, we could not get the police to
come out. A Tennessee trooper called Metro for us and they wouldn’t even tell
him when someone would be out. When I finally walked into my office, I was so
sick that my boss took one look and told me to go home.

Last January, on the day the temperature dropped 40 degrees in just an hour
or so, I left downtown Chicago at 5:15 and got to I-57 about an hour later.
Despite the rain and heavy traffic, we did not see a single accident. In
Nashville, you cannot drive 15 miles on a sunny day without seeing at least one and
usually more, mostly due to people who cannot look where they are going and
hit the car in front of them.

When I lived in Chicago and had occasion to call the police, they were there
within just a few minutes. I never owned a gun until I lived in Nashville;
now I have two of them.

You know what’s NOT on the list? Minneapolis-St. Paul! That’s because the Twin Cities rock. Except during Republican National Conventions. Tear gas and riot police tend to elevate one’s stress levels. Who knew?

A lot of different factors can cause stress. I disagree with the criteria used for the list. Those items are not that high on the list of things that DO cause stress – relationships, relocations, deaths/illnesses of loved ones, etc.

San fran is stressful????? Dude if you live in or near the city high fuel prices don’t mean anything cause we all walk or take public trans to work. If you do drive, you are gonna pay a ton to park which means you should also make a ton and live outside the city. SF also has pretty clean air, at night you get all the fresh pacific air that cools off the city.

The factors on this list are not all equal in each city. Everyone in LA drives to work, most in SF don’t, thus gas is not a big issue.

Cleveland??? High population? They have some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, now that should be counted as stressful.

Stupid poll to fill a few pages of the magazine and get a 15 spot on the nightly news.

Detroit would be higher if the population density hadn’t been cut in half by white flight.

Not that I don’t love it for what it is (60 miles away, source of political amusement, delicious cheap food, great architecture, hockey and colorful characters), but I can’t really imagine a city in worse shape than D-town.

I’ve got to ditto the guys saying DC should be on the list or crowding its margins. It’s an awesome place to grow up in. When it came time to marry and raise kids, though, I made sure to be somewhere else.

Try living in the Southeast, guys. Folks say “please” and “thanks,” older women call you honey, the fried chicken brings tears to your eyes and so does the five-alarm chili. Mild winters, slow, relaxed summers and all the country music your head can handle.

Well, that last one might not be much of a draw. Thank God for CDs of something else.

I agree with Forbes on many of their city-ranking lists, but not this one. The problems with D.C. are more than just statistical. You have to visit to understand how ridiculously stressful everything here can be. I love living in the D.C area, but it’s definitely the most stressful American city I have ever been to.

The cabbies in Chicago are just as reckless and psychotic. The Chicago Transit Authority is in shambles. The mayor is a moronic mob boss wanna be, who can’t be bothered to look at how other large cities in the nation aren’t swimming in a cesspool of millions of dollars in debt. The county (Cook) is run by an arrogant, ignorant, soulless, I-give-jobs-to-family-members-like-they’re-candy bastard (Fuck you, Stroger!). Our governor (Double FUCK YOU, BLAGOBITCH!) prefers to waste thousands in tax payer funds by flying his private jet to and from work on a weekly basis, instead of staying in the government-provided mansion.

Wow, having lived in LA, SF, DC and now Chicago, I’m shocked Chicago is no. 1 on this list. Never have I lived in a major city where people are so friendly, lots of green space, good public transportation, low rents and housing in decent neighborhoods, great restaurants, fun festivals, great sports teams (Go Cubs), I could go on and on…

I grew up bicoastal in SF and DC. Present day DC is a nightmare from horrific commutes, taxation without representation, rents rivalling NYC and SF, exorbitant housing prices, idiot cabbies (thank God for the newly instituted meter system), too many transplants who think they own the place, and if your party’s not in office multiply the stress and frustration level times 10.

Not too much bad to say about SF that people don’t already know, except why are there so few cabs? You can rent a limo easier than hailing a cab in SF, makes no sense.

I guess I’m one of the few people that enjoyed living in LA, but I lived in the city proper, and went to school there. God, I miss taking the Santa Monica busline to the beach for $.75, unreal. Watching the sunset in Venice, the dive bars, the crazy Jimi Hendrix wannabe on the boardwalk…Yeah, you need to find your niche, but once you do, LA is a very chill place.

Chicago, I will always love you…it really has some wonderful people, amazing creative energy, a blooming spiritual scene..in face, when you get below the surface, the amount of raw creative energy here is wonderful.

But, shit, there’s a reason I left it to move to an island off of Asia ;)

For the record, not everyone drives in Chicago! It’s a great city to be without a car-the CTA is decrepit but wide-ranging, and I could smoke cars like crazy on my $50 mountain bike. Once travelling from edgewater to pilsen straight down damen at breakneck speed I passed 60 more cars than passed me ;)

Someday, I will return. But you know what makes a city 100 x more stressful? Lack of access to real nature! Lack of access to mountains! Lack of access to clean rivers, to clean air, to the real world!

AIR QUALITY
Fresno – 5th worst air quality(also top 5 for ozone)
Salt Lake City – Not on the list

GAS PRICES
Fresno – $3.60
Salt Lake City – $3.60

POPULATION DENSITY
Frenso 111 people per Sq. Mile
Salt Lake City 984 People per Sq. Mile

Population density shouldn’t count because Fresno is surrounded by commercial agriculture which skews the numbers. We’re actually the 6th largest City in CA based on population. Besides Mormons don’t get stressed by cramming a huge family into a medium house, they enjoy it.

Chicago has many problems – but the reasoning for being on this list is retarded.

7.3 % unemployment rate ?? Maybe but it is terribly skewed , there are several areas in chicago where the unemployement rate is more like 35% which skews the whole city. This goes for just about every other statistic they can come up with.

Crime is the same way, pockets of south and west side are so bad that , from the news you would think that people are being gunned down everywhere. When in reality most of it is happening in a few gang infested areas.

If you want some good statistics on chicago Read the book Freakonomics

as a new orleanian, i would like to express my sadness that my illustrious city is not represented. i mean, come ON, people! murder rate = incredibly high. poverty rate = incredibly high. knowledge that someday the city is doomed to sink into lake pontchartrain and we will all drown like trapped rats in a sewer = always present.

Anyone pissing and moaning about Detroit not being as stressful as Chicago should consider the following; try driving someone during rush hour in downtown Detroit as opposed to Chicago. The difference?

You’ll travel three times the distance in Detroit as you would in Chitown within the same time frame. That right there is enough to make me swill cheap whiskey if I had to commute to work in Chicago.

NO WAY Chicago is more stressful than Detroit! I’ve lived in both cities and Chicago is a dreamy garden of Eden compared to the faltering Michigan state economy, misguided reliance on the auto industry, just-been-booted outta office Mayor “Felon” Kilpatrick, lack of public transportation downtown (unless you count the People Mover, ha!), sorry excuse for a football team Detroit Lions and one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country.

Beat that Chicago! But yeah, I’m sure the Windy City is way more stressful. Ha!

I don’t get this. I live in Detroit, have a lot of friends in Chi-town/travel there a few times a year, and honestly, the overall gloom-and-doom feeling we have here in the D isn’t around in Chi. Things are more expensive, sure, but it’s not like it is here with this permeating sense of “OHGAWD, WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!”

Well, amazingly enough, my home town of Pittsburgh, and my current residence, Columbia SC, are not listed. And as an extra bonus, neither are of them mentioned in the comments. I must be soooo chillin about now. I think I’ll have another toddy and chill out some more. Portillos? What’s that? Is it a who or a what? I guess since I don’t know I’m soo not missing it. Time for that toddy.

Eff that noise! I live in and love Chicago. I have been to every major city in our country and many other cities in other countries and I STILL and will probably ALWAYS think Chicago is the fairest of them all. It’s the best city on Earth.

I can’t believe Chicago is #1…who conducted this study anyway? They need to spend some time out here in Chicago and REALLY see how it is…once they taste the Chicago hot dog, italian beef and stuffed pizza, they’ll feel stressed that they didn’t know how wonderful it was to live here!

But seriously, most cities can have lots of stress, especially if a person doesn’t like their job and has a long commute, but there are many other modes of transportation in Chicago. The transit system (CTA) can get you mostly anywhere in the city. I agree with the person who said that New York is usually #1…standard of living is pretty high there…

For those who don’t like the busy city life, the suburbs of Chicago are just minutes away and not as “busy” as downtown and the (full-of-fun but parking sux) neighborhoods like Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, etc.

I love Chicago because there is always something to do out here and to get to one cool place to the next is usually not too far away.

Let me get this straight:L.A. = traffic james, fires, earth quakes, floods and people who have one job while waiting to become an actor / actress, writer, director etc.

New York = noise levels that are causing hearing damage to most residents, triple parked trucks making deliveries so streets are one lane, garbage bags piled up on the sidewalks until the Sanitation Dept decides to pick them up,invariably during rush hour, rents, restaurants, public transportation costs that are through the roof

Chicago = a beautiful, clean city, convenient shopping, good public transportation, alleys so the garbage doesn’t pile up and trucks can make deliveries while off the streets, great museums and theater, and really friendly people.

I’ve lived in all 3 cities…no way is Chicago the most stressful….but who cares what the poll says…if you are lucky enough to live in Chicago you already know it!